The goal of the Children's Health Research Center (CHRC) at MCV will train and nurture qualified young investigators so that they feel and enjoy the excitement and challenge of productive research while developing the skills, discipline, scientific focus and experience which will allow them to compete for independent funding. They will be provided 2-3 years of protected time plus department resources. Junior faculty will be linked to one of 16 established investigators in pediatrics and basic sciences. The theme of the CHRC will be Human Developmental Biology. Human Developmental Biology is defined as an experimental approach to understanding the biochemical and molecular events controlling normal growth, differentiation, and development, either in utero or postnatally, and the genetic or acquired factors producing aberrant development that uses the basic science techniques of contemporary cell biology, molecular biology, and molecular genetics. Applications for funding will be selected from a pool of junior faculty who will select an established investigator as research advisor. Continued funding will require each awardee to submit an annual application to NIH. The CHRC will increase the corp of pediatric faculty who are skilled basic science investigators who can apply their knowledge and skills to research of important pediatric questions and problems, now and in the future.